Waiting makes me feel helpless. Anybody else? Did you know, however, that there are more than 7 lessons from Isaiah 26 to help us learn what to do while waiting on God. That’s good news! Waiting time doesn’t have to feel helpless or wasteful!
The overarching theme of Isaiah 26 is that while we wait on the Lord, He will keep us in peace! That’s a promise!
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What Are We Called To Do While Waiting On God?
“Yes, in the way of Your judgments,
O Lord, we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.” (Isaiah 26:8 NKJV)
What are we called to do while waiting for God to move?
- Worship
- Fix our mind on Him
- Shift our thoughts toward praise and gratitude
- Pause to pray in the battle
- Trust Him no matter what you see.
- He will handle the wicked
- Continue living righteously
- Share the Gospel
- Stop striving and surrender
- Remember eternity
- Fear the Lord
More Than 7 Lessons From Isaiah 26 on Waiting on God in Peace
To better understand each of the ways to walk with God while waiting we need to study the chapter in context. Let’s open to Isaiah 26 and look at each section.
1. Worship While Waiting on the Lord: A Song of Victory (:1)
“In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:” (Isaiah 26:1 NKJV)
Isaiah 26 was a song written to worship the Lord for the wonderful works He had done for the people of Israel. It also looked ahead to what He would do on the earth and in eternity.
The song was sung while in trials. You read that correctly. We are called to worship the Lord in song through the battles, in the midst of them. While we wait, He keeps us in peace when we stay in a posture of worship! This is a lesson taught through the example of those who found peace before us.
Yes, there is peace while waiting!
Related Post: Worthy of Praise: How to Shift Your Thoughts for Peace
Worship Shows Faith That God Will Protect His People (:1-2)
“We have a strong city;
God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks.
Open the gates,
That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in.” (Isaiah 26:1-2 NKJV)
The Lord is faithful to save His people. He is the salvation. His righteousness and faithfulness are like thick, tall walls surrounding those He keeps.
Can I say that again.
God is righteous.
God is faithful.
His character stands around us like the walls that protect a city from battle.
He keeps us in peace as we draw near to Him in worship.
When you wonder what to do while waiting on God, worship!
2. Fix Your Mind on the Lord While Waiting For God (:3-4)
“You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in Yah, the Lord, is everlasting strength.” (Isaiah 26:3-4 NKJV)
What can you do when you are waiting on God? While waiting on the Lord… for salvation – for protection – we are called to do two critical things:
- Fix our mind on Him.
- Trust Him.
How To Fix Your Mind on Him While Waiting in The Lord
Life is hard.
Real trials are pressing in on us, real people who make things challenging, real issues we have to deal with every day.
Every.
Day.
But through it all, you can have peace while waiting on the Lord.
This passage is not telling us to ignore real life and think highly spiritual thoughts all the time. No, instead, what it means is that while we face all the things that would rob us of peace of mind, we need to shift our thoughts.
What could that look like?
In my life, I am waiting on the Lord to give clear direction about our family.
- My husband left us.
- I am struggling to find work.
- The mortgage stares me down every month.
- Raising teenage girls most days, can be overwhelmingly some days.
- Caring for a special needs child can feel like facing a giant -real needs, real struggles, real fears for her future…
Thoughts of those very real hardships constantly enter my mind. If I gave in, allowing them free rein, I would be in a puddle of tears on the floor, overcome with fear, anger, and hopelessness.
Related Post: 40 Day Fasting and Prayer Guide: Be Still and Know God More
3. How To Shift Your Thoughts
Instead, I choose to honestly assess each thought and lay it at the feet of Jesus.
My husband did leave us, that is 100% true. Does it help my peace of mind, or my ability to care for our children, if I replay the reasons he left or rail about what he should do to help us? Nope.
So instead of allowing those thoughts to run wild in my mind, when they have begun – again – I force myself to shift my thoughts… because I want peace of mind while I wait!
It sounds like this most days:
“How am I going to pay the mortgage this month? If he hadn’t left us, I wouldn’t be in this situation. Where is he? Why isn’t he helping us?”
Related Post: 14 Powerful Ways to Change Negative Thinking in Marriage
4. Pause & Shift To Prayer Instead of Ruminating Thoughts.
To shift, first I stop allowing my thoughts to spiral and I begin praying.
“Lord, I am angry with Your son for abandoning his family… for leaving me to carry all the responsibility… for breaking his promises… for breaking this covenant… But I can’t do anything about that today.
You are my husband. You are my provider. I don’t know how we will pay the mortgage this month. He isn’t helping, and I haven’t found a job that pays enough yet. I trust You. You have been supernaturally providing for us since he left. Thank You. Never let me take for granted how You have tenderly cared for, protected, and provided for us. Show me the way forward. I trust You. Amen.”
Related Post: How to Stay Positive In a Marriage Relationship: Love Thinks No Evil
5. How to Trust Him While Waiting in The Lord
We must shift to prayer to shift our eyes back to the Lord. When our mind is being pulled toward worry or remembering that leads to anger and anxiety, prayer brings peace of mind.
- Prayer brings change.
- It is the only conversation that will bring change.
In my example, which happens each month in this season, I shift from anger at my husband, who abandoned us, to trust in the Lord for taking his place as our provider.
Why can I trust the Lord to provide?
It is a challenge, but I remember how He has provided in the past. When I fear we will be homeless… I remember how often the Lord has caught us and kept us safe.
He has been faithful!
I also remind myself that God may not want us in this house and that’s okay (I repeat over and over until I believe it). If the Lord wants us to move, He will direct our steps toward the next place.
I trust Him to do that because I have seen Him do it – in the Bible, yes, but also in the lives of others around me.
- If He has been faithful in the past, why would I doubt that He will be faithful in the future?
Related Post: How To Pray to God My Provider in Faith
Remember That Judgment is God’s Responsibility (:5-6)
“For He brings down those who dwell on high,
The lofty city;
He lays it low,
He lays it low to the ground,
He brings it down to the dust.
The foot shall tread it down—
The feet of the poor
And the steps of the needy.” (Isaiah 26:5-6 NKJV)
What can you do while waiting on the Lord?
While our responsibility is to keep our eyes on the Lord, His responsibility is to deal justly with those who do not. Those who cause us harm in their pride will be brought low. He promises to handle justice on the earth.
This is yet another reason we can keep peace of mind as we go through hard waiting seasons. Remember, God handles justice!
Related Post: 6 Ways to Take the High Road: Think Justice
Remember That God Rewards The Righteous (:7-9)
“The way of the just is uprightness;
O Most Upright,
You weigh the path of the just.
Yes, in the way of Your judgments,
O Lord, we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.
With my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” (Isaiah 26:7-9 NKJV)
How can you keep your peace when waiting on the Lord?
Remember that God will deal with your enemies and pay back all that was done to you.
Also, He will also repay you for your righteousness. The Lord sees you doing the right things, working hard to forgive and reconcile and live at peace with all men. He sees you. He cares for you.
Trust God’s timing! Trust God’s heart for you.
The Lord will reward you as you keep your mind fixed on Him rather than trying to: Fix it yourself, avenge yourself, worry over things too much, or allow anger and resentment to dictate how you treat others.
Scriptures About God Rewarding the Righteous
The reward of the righteous is a promise from the Lord. We need to remember God’s promises about righteousness in order to trust Him hand in the waiting seasons.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33 ESV)
“Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved (looked for) his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:8 ESV)
““Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.” (Revelation 22:12 ESV)
“And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” (1 Peter 5:4 ESV)
“Let grace be shown to the wicked,
Yet he will not learn righteousness;
In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly,
And will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
Lord, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see.
But they will see and be ashamed
For their envy of people;
Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them.” (Isaiah 26:10-11 NKJV)
- When we are able to keep our eyes and mind fixed on Jesus
- Trusting that God will handle justice
- Trusting God’s timing
- We are then able to focus on our calling
- On the work the Lord assigned us.
- He calls us all to make disciples, teaching others to obey the Lord.
- On the work the Lord assigned us.
- We are then able to focus on our calling
When we are worried about our problems or worried about revenge over our enemies we don’t have mental space to witness or care for their eternal soul.
If you wonder what to do while waiting on God, sharing His love with others is always in His will!
Related Post: 10 Compelling Reasons To Share the Gospel Today
The Great Commission
“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” (Matthew 28:18-20 ESV)
Jesus commissioned every single Believer before ascending to Heaven. That commission didn’t have any loopholes or exceptions.
Every single person will stand before the Ancient of Days one day and give an account of their life on earth. Either they are covered in the blood of Jesus – so that every wrong is paid for – or they are not and will spend an eternity in Hell as a consequence.
We are to care more for their eternal soul than we care to hold onto the offense. We are to try to reach them.
Will they all learn or repent? No. But their response is not our concern. God cares about our obedience. He will handle everything else.
While waiting on the Lord, even in the midst of the trials, we are called to witness and love well.
Related Post: The Ancient of Days, Meaning God will Judge: The Way To Forgiveness
God Will Establish Our Peace
“Lord, You will establish peace for us,
For You have also done all our works in us.
O Lord our God, masters besides You
Have had dominion over us;
But by You only we make mention of Your name.
They are dead, they will not live;
They are deceased, they will not rise.
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And made all their memory to perish.
You have increased the nation, O Lord,
You have increased the nation;
You are glorified;
You have expanded all the borders of the land.” (Isaiah 26:12-15 NKJV)
The physical peace of a nation is in the hands of the Lord. While we do the work of keeping peace of mind in our waiting seasons, He will do the work of physical peace.
God is in control. Trust Him. He will deal with borders, and nations, and unrighteous masters. We are called to obey Him and walk in His way regardless of how the wicked act toward us.
He sees. He will handle it in due time. Keep waiting and trusting Him.
7. Stop Striving and Surrender While Waiting on The Lord
“Lord, in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
As a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.” (Isaiah 26:16-18 NKJV)
When we are waiting on the Lord, for provision or protection or even deliverance we are tempted to try everything in our own strength.
We pray the “right prayers”, and we do all the religious activities that helped us prosper in the past. But all of that produces nothing if we are not fully surrendered to the Lord
Israel was very good at doing all the religious things God said, when it suited their desires or when they were in trouble. But God longs for daily obedience more than occasional sacrifices.
God longs for daily obedience more than occasional sacrifices… What To Do While Waiting On God: Lessons From Isaiah 26 For Peace and Trust Share on XThe Lord desires our hearts!
We are called to seek Him with our whole heart because we love Him, not because we want something from Him.
When we are just going through the motions to get His help – especially in the midst of a consequence to our own sin – it produces nothing.
When, however, we have turned to Him in surrender, in repentance, truly longing for Him alone – that’s when real change happens, that’s when He will come in and move in power.
- Striving for Him without real heart change will never produce peace.
- Surrender to Him, while waiting in hope for Him, will always produce peace!
Related Post: How To Give Your Life To God in Full Surrender: 4 Easy Steps
8. Remember The Promise of Resurrection Brings Peace
“Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body they shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead.” (Isaiah 26:19 NKJV)
What should you do while waiting on the Lord?
What will bring peace of mind in hard waiting seasons?
The Bible often points us forward to eternity when discussing the salvation and deliverance of the Lord. Sometimes we won’t see the desired result on Earth. Sometimes we need to be reminded that this life only lasts for a moment while eternity lasts… forever.
There will be a day of reckoning and a day of rewarding. Trust Him in your waiting seasons and peace of mind will come!
Related Post: A Wife’s True Story: Knowing The Importance of Forgiveness in Marriage Leads To Blessing
9. Fear The Lord While Waiting on God To Move
“Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past
For behold, the Lord comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood,
And will no more cover her slain.” (Isaiah 26:20-21 NKJV)
The Lord is holy and righteous. When lines have been crossed and warnings have been ignored, His anger is kindled. God is to be feared in holy reverence. When He is moving in justice, we will want to hide ourselves in the shadow of His wing.
This is a beautiful reminder to live God’s way, regardless of what we are waiting for in life. We are often tempted to do it our way or the world’s way, which can make more logical sense. The problem is that their way can also be 100% opposite of the Lord’s way.
When life is hard, when we are in a season of waiting where nothing is going well, we long for peace of mind. Peace of mind, however, only comes when we fix our eyes on Him and wait while trusting the Lord.
What Will You Do To Keep Peace While Waiting on the Lord?
When the Lord allows a season of waiting in your life, how will you respond?
My first response was fear and control. I’ve lived years walking in those areas of sin. But the Bible tells us exactly what to do while waiting on God. Did you know it was laid out so clearly?
- Worship while you wait
- Fix our mind on Him instead of the problem while you wait
- Shift our thoughts toward praise and gratitude in the waiting
- Pause to pray in the battle for peace
- Trust Him no matter what you see when you are waiting.
- He will handle the wicked.
- So continue living righteously.
- Share the Gospel while you wait.
- Stop striving and surrender through the waiting.
- Remember eternity when the earthly is hard.
- Fear the Lord while you wait.
Will these things bring about what you are waiting for any faster?
No.
But you may find that while you wait, God is shifting you, growing you, maturing you. You may find that while you wait, you begin to know Him more and that thing you were waiting for… maybe it’s not actually the point in all of this.
When God finally moves, He will have prepared you for something wonderful that is beyond anything you could ever ask for or imagine.
Just maybe…
in HIS love,
Tiffany of Hope Joy in Christ inspires Christian Women to grow in faith, live out Biblical Marriage Principles and raise Godly Children. Join the Wives Only Facebook Group here or keep up with her through Pinterest.
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